1 This is the message that the Lord revealed to the prophet Habakkuk.
Habakkuk Complains of Injustice
2 O Lord, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence? 3 Why do you make me see such trouble? How can you stand to look on such wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around me, and there is fighting and quarreling everywhere. 4 The law is weak and useless, and justice is never done. Evil people get the better of the righteous, and so justice is perverted.
The Lord's Reply
5 Then the Lord said to his people, “Keep watching the nations around you, and you will be astonished at what you see. I am going to do something that you will not believe when you hear about it. 6 I am bringing the Babylonians to power, those fierce, restless people. They are marching out across the world to conquer other lands. 7 They spread fear and terror, and in their pride they are a law to themselves.
8 “Their horses are faster than leopards, fiercer than hungry wolves. Their cavalry troops come riding from distant lands; their horses paw the ground. They come swooping down like eagles attacking their prey.
9 “Their armies advance in violent conquest, and everyone is terrified as they approach. Their captives are as numerous as grains of sand. 10 They treat kings with contempt and laugh at high officials. No fortress can stop them—they pile up earth against it and capture it. 11 Then they sweep on like the wind and are gone, these men whose power is their god.”
Habakkuk Complains to the Lord Again
12 Lord, from the very beginning you are God. You are my God, holy and eternal. Lord, my God and protector, you have chosen the Babylonians and made them strong so that they can punish us. 13 But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are?
14 How can you treat people like fish or like a swarm of insects that have no ruler to direct them? 15 The Babylonians catch people with hooks, as though they were fish. They drag them off in nets and shout for joy over their catch! 16 They even worship their nets and offer sacrifices to them, because their nets provide them with the best of everything.
17 Are they going to use their swords forever and keep on destroying nations without mercy?
1 Dama lakaamutjigwa nge Nlebesambeli Habakuku.
Ng'ong'olo dza Habakuku
2 Kowotola tjibaka tjingapani Yahwe, ndikumbila bhatsho,
koga imwi musingahwilile?
Ndimimilila kumuli nditi, “Phipiti,”
ngono musingatjidze?
3 Ini muthama kuti ndibone tjisakatambunuka,
ndilinge mbipo kene?
Golomodzo ne phipiti zwimbeli kwangu,
kugwa ne kumukilana ku pamwe ne pamwe.
4 Ndizo wali nlayo wadzinganyidziwa,
kutambunuka akuna pakunobepo.
Ngoti babi banokombeledza balulwami,
ndizo kuti kutambunuka kuleyane.
Dabilo ya Yahwe
5 Linga zwitjaba ubone!
Ngono ukaabale! Udzidzibale!
Ngoti ndowoshinga tjimwe mu mazhuba awo,
tjausingawogalamoyo,
nenguba ungabe watjibudziwa.
6 Ndomilidza Bakhaladiya,
bathu ibabaje banotjisa bana majatu,
banoyenda shango yose
betapa magalo asiabo.
7 Banotjisa kakale banotjika,
banozwithamigwa nlayo nge kwabo,
banolumbidza gudzo labo.
8 Mbizi dzabo dzina lubilo kupinda dindingwe,
banotjisa kupinda phele mu zhalima,
mbizi dzabo dzomatha ha dzinginilila.
Batathi badzo banodwa kule,
banowuluka se dzu lidzamulila kunoja.
9 Banozha bose bezhila phipiti,
bedwilila bakalinga mbeli
bekubunganya batapiwa bangapa nsetje nge bunji.
10 Banokuwelela bomambo,
bakadadila babusi.
Banoseka mizi mikulu yose ye matizhilo yakasima,
bebe bebaka matuluthulu e mavu beitapa.
11 Ipapo bebe bepinda se phepo bedwilila,
bana nlandu, ibo banoti simba labo ndzimu wabo.
Habakuku unong'ong'ola kakale
12 Imwi Yahwe apa amuzobepo kudwa ntolo tjose kene?
Ndzimu wangu, Nyengemali wangu, iswi atitowofa.
Imwi Yahwe makabatjwayila kusumikilisiwa,
Imwi Shongwe makabashalulila kulobgwa shamu.
13 Mesho enyu mabuyanana kwaasakafanila kulinga mbipo,
amungaletjedzele tjisiitjo tjishingikala.
Ini ngono mu letjedzela batjebeli?
Munyelelileni babiibi
belobesa bakalulwama kubapinda saikoku wali?
14 Makathama bathu bakanga hwobe dze gungwa,
bakanga zwibumbiwa zwe gungwa zwisina mbusi.
15 Tjita tjibi tjobakweba bose nge zwiweko,
tjobabhatshila nge gwanga gwatjo,
unowobakubunganya mu dandi lile,
ndizo ebe eshatha eshongozhela.
16 Ndizo wali ebe edusila zwibhayilo gwanga gugwe
ebe episila dandi lile motsha,
ngoti gwanga gugwe go ntjidzila mu ipepkhwe
eguta zojiwa zwinozipa.
17 Apa unowodwilila emola gwanga gugwe,
elobesa zwitjaba asina ngoni tjatjose kene?